Frayed Threads
by InThisMasqueradeOfStars
Summary: Songfic to The Frays songs. Snupin, slash, graphic, abuse. Theere is more to Snape and Remus than anybody knew. But the once beautiful, brightly coloured tapestry is fraying, matted, threadbare and graying. Is it possible to mend the Frayed Threads?
1. Prologue

A/n: This is a story that has been sitting in my notebook for a while. I shouldn't be starting it, but now is the only time I've had the motivation to type it up recently 

Disclaimer: Who wants, HP! Fresh, Tasty! Who wants, HP! Fresh, Juicy! Who wants, HP! Nice, Yummy! Who wants, HP! We do! Who gets, HP! Not Us, JKR!

I own nothing. Even the disclaimer belongs to a fast food company.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Fraying Threads – Prologue

Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lying on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
you found me, you found me

You Found Me – The Fray

Remus had an odd feeling in his stomach. A very odd feeling, almost trepidation. He checked the calendar. Nope, still two weeks until the full moon. He wasn't out of tea bags, or chocolate, and Harry was sitting across from him, attempting to beat him at chess, so it wasn't his godson in trouble. Something was happening. Something Bad.

Quickly putting his cup of tea down, he speedily moved his king to the middle of his chess board. Harry looked up, emerald eyes studying his Godfather's face. He captured the king, then murmured,

" Something's up."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He stood, and handed Remus a piece of parchment from his robe pocket. He looked at Professor Lupin's again, then left his office. Remus looked at the parchment, and recognized it immediately. Pulling out his wand from its holster, he tapped it with a soft

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Black, spidery lines spread over the parchment, webbing out and forming a large, detailed map of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Running through his mind all the people he cared for, he checked each on the map. Minerva, Dumbledore, Hermione, Ronald, Dora…

Then he realized that he recognized this feeling. He'd actually become quite well acquainted with it. He'd had it numerous times before. Each time, a single, vital member of The Order had been in grave mortal peril.

He directed his eyes at the castle's Dungeons, specifically to the Slytherin Head Of House Chambers. And there he lay, in the middle of his Potion's laboratory, not moving. Lupin panicked, but at least had the brains to use one of the more unknown functions of The Marauder's Map. Quickly, he touched the tip of his wand to the Potion Master's name. The mark glowed red, indicating that the man was in grave danger. Stuffing the map into his robe pocket, he hurried to the fireplace. He could not Floo directly into the Potion Professor's chambers, but he could Floo to his office.

Remus burst through the door of the Potions lab. It had taken him several minutes to guess the door's password. It had very strong wards. Unsurprising, really. Severus liked his privacy. The password had been difficult. But then Remus remembered the man's animagus form. Very few people knew the man was an animagus, let alone his animal form. But Remus remembered that once, in better times, Severus had showed him his transformation. It had been pure beauty, seeing that, large, majestic midnight black hippogriff before him. And so he tried the word 'hippogriff', and burst through the door.

Severus lay in a twister postion on the floor, surrounded by shattered glass. Blood could be seen blossoming from gashes on his Torso. At the sound of Remus' shout of

"Severus!"

The face moved towards the tawny haired man, and the haunted obsidian eyes of Severus Snape met the blue-amber, distraught eyes of Remus Lupin. The Defence Against The Dark Arts professor ran, uncaring of the glass, over to the still male on the floor, dropping to his knees and cradling the head of the usually cold man, sobbing. But then the eyelids of the ebony pair drifted slowly closed and the Potions Master took one, last, shuddering breath.

The werewolf wept, and collapsed on the almost dead man's chest.


	2. Chapter One

Fraying Threads- Chapter One

Over My Head (Cable Car)

I Never knew  
I never knew that everything was falling through  
That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue  
To turn and run when all I needed was the truth  
But that's how it's got to be  
It's coming down to nothing more than apathy  
I'd rather run the other way than stay and see  
The smoke and who's still standing when it clears

Everyone knows I'm in  
Over my head  
Over my head  
With eight seconds left in overtime  
She's on your mind  
She's on your mind

Let's rearrange  
I wish you were a stranger I could disengage  
Just say that we agree and then never change  
Soften a bit until we all just get along  
But that's disregard  
Find another friend and you discard  
As you lose the argument in a cable car  
Hanging above as the canyon comes between

Everyone knows I'm in  
Over my head  
Over my head  
With eight seconds left in overtime  
He's on your mind  
He's on your mind

Severus walked, dragging his feet, to the Great Hall. Well, as much as someone as bat-like and graceful as Professor Snape could drag his feet. He still resembled a panther, ready and waiting to pounce on his next prey. In truth, Severus was quite put out with the Gathering which that damn twinkly-eyed old coot was making him attend. It was the Start of Term Staff Meeting, at which they attended dinner and acquainted themselves with new members of staff and faculty, as well as discussing the New Year ahead.

As if he actually needed to be in attendance. He already knew full well that only one knew member of staff had been appointed. And he knew that man well. Well enough to be a friend, or a rival. Close enough to be betrayed. This event would be undoubtedly an unnecessary, painful meeting, and completely tiresome. How he hated awkward social functions.

He arrived at the Great Hall, and set a grumpy, grim, don't-mess-with-me expression on his face. The waitress who had attempted to serve him a refreshment, fled, terrified. Severus snorted mentally. The Headmaster couldn't even hire decent help these days.

Then, he caught sight of HIM.

Carefully, he schooled his visage into an even more horrible expression. A simple, careful, uncaring, terrifying, blankness. A grim, horrible, unbelievable blank.

The werewolf looked at him. No accusations, no anger in the clear, sunset shaded eyes. The tawny haired man inclined his head at him. Understanding. Pure acceptance and calmness. It infuriated the Potions Master.

But nobody could possibly tell. With the exception of a certain, piercingly blue eyed headmaster, of course. His eyes were twinkling. Severus was certain that if one was to look directly into the old invalids eyes right now, you would be blinded. Looking into the black glare of professor Snape, however would probably cause you to lose control of your bowels and die a painful death simultaneously. Not a good idea, obviously.

Severus was shaken out of his reverie by Minerva, who asked him how he liked his steak. He asked for Well Done. He could not understand how people could eat meat so bloody they could have ordered a pet cow.

He walked over to Albus, and the Headmaster began to talk.

"Good Evening, Severus."

"Evening, Headmaster. Albus, I must ask if I am still required to brew wolfsbane."

"Severus, you know you are to continue making it. And do not even think about charging full price."

"But Sir-"

"Severus! He has enough problems as it is."

"Fine, Dumbledore. I won't ask a charge."

At that moment, his body began to burn. He felt as though his skin was aflame, and his insides were boiling in red hot oil. The indescribable pain, thousands of times worse then the Cruciatus, began pulling towards his left side, drawing into his left arm and centering on his forearm. He grasped his forearm tightly in pain, then fell to the floor, writhing madly. He barely managed to pull up his left sleeve to his elbow, and choked out,

"Albus… t-the Mark."

Before he continued moving crazily without conscious thought, the pain taking over. But then his ebony gaze clouded over, and he stared out, not seeing, clearly in another dimension. For what he was seeing was certainly not the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

He was in a cold, slimy dungeon cell, and outside the padlocked bars he could see Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange and Dolohov. Bellatrix was cackling madly, screaming with sick mirth. Dolohov was leering at him, rotten yellow teeth crooked. With a shout, Rodolphus dodged the green spell shot from Snape's wand. Yelling in anger, he quickly left Severus devoid of any weapon. Bellatrix shot a Crucio at the former spy, bellowed,

"We'll get you, Snape!"

Cackling, she reinforced the Crucio, while Dolohov murmured incomprehensible Latin under his breath. Suddenly, Severus was back, staring at the starry, charmed ceiling of the Great Hall. Blinking a pair of Cerulean blue eyes came into focus, completely devoid of twinkle.

He groaned, bringing his left arm up and grabbing it, before concentrating his shadowed gaze onto the ugly dark and skull and serpent blemishing his ivory skin. It was glowing a blood red, still burning. Then he noticed a scarred hand performing a diagnostic spell above him. And he noticed a pair of amber eyes focused entirely on his shuddering limbs and ugly blemished left forearm. Albus notitced then that he was conscious and began to question him regarding his knowledge of the Event.

"Severus, child, Thank Godric you awake! What were you seeing, what was happening?"

"Headmaster, calm yourself, I am perfectly alright."

Even as he said this, he attempted to sit up and collapsed again, groaning in pain. Lupin's eyes sharpened and he said forcefully,

"Hagrid! Run to Poppy quickly, tell her Severus is in trouble, we'll be there soon, and to get the Anti-Crucio, Pain-Away, Skin-Soother and Blood Replenisher ready!"

The werewolf's eyes zeroed in on his torso as he said this, and that was the first time Severus noticed the blood spreading over his robe front. He muttered,

"Oh, shit. Could this night go any worse? Now is NOT the right time. Curse that man!"

Lupin and Albus heard this, but decided to question him later. Lupin ripped open the robe and they saw the gashes blossoming red liquid. At least 8 of them, Snape was loosing a lot of blood. These deep wounds would only add to the many pale scars crisscrossing all over the white skin. Some of these scars must have been bone deep, with puckered skin still in ridges, though some of them must have been decades old. Remus' eyes hardened when he caught sight of a scar in the shape of what could only be a belt buckle. What caused a collective gasp around the room, however, was not the belt buckle, but the obscene words and drawings written all over his chest and abdomen. There was little doubt that there would be more on his back. Some of these words on his chest were 'DIRTY SLAVE', 'WHORE', 'FREAK' and 'BURDEN'. All of them were clearly slashed very deeply by a large knife. They were old wounds, but horrible none the less. While they were still staring at the letters and drawings all over his torso, each scar split open, as though they had once again been slashed with a large knife. Blood began flowing heavily, but Severus drew his robes up across his chest, glaring. At that moment, his right leg, left hip, several ribs and his shoulder shattered, and the slytherin began spasming uncontrollably in severe pain once more. Large amounts of blood was flowing onto the floor, forming a pool of red liquid around the raven-haired slytherin. His robes had fallen down again, leaving his torso visible once more. His chest and abdomen drew many gazes from staff.

Just at that moment, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Harry Potter walked in, chatting.

Harry and Draco ran to Severus, While Hermione and Ron were frozen in complete shock.

Severus fixed his eyes on Harry, with the emerald gaze looking back at him, and the eyes finally closed and he succumbed to the pain.

"What the Fuck is wrong with Snape?!"

"Language, my dear boy."

"Not now, Harry, Albus! We need to get Severus to the Infirmary!"

With that, Remus performed a stasis charm and then all three of the levitated the Potions Master, Ensuring they did not jostle him.

Reaching the Hospital Wing, Poppy Pomfrey began fussinf over the slytherin, tipping potions down his throat, checking his pulse and casting diagnostic spells. She paled considerably after one such spell, and attempted to heal the wounds and vanish the scars, but only very few of the shallower wounds healed. To be more precise, his leg and hip healed, and some of the smaller cuts, but all the words, drawing, belt marks and other large wounds as well as his ribs and shoulder were identical to before the Nurse cast the spell. Poppy grimaced and tried a different spell, to no avail.

Just as she was starting another, a velvety voice said quietly,

"Don't bother. They're cursed scars, dark Magic, from cursed weapons. They don't heal."

"Severus. You spoke as though from experience."

Said a just as quiet, but still sharp voice from his right. He looked to the chair beside his bed. There sat the werewolf. He looked exhausted, as though he had not slept in days. He was bent over, his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. At the feel of the Potions Master's gaze he lifted his head, and looked at Snape with a soft but sure look. Severus gave a minute shudder, unnoticeable by all but those with the sharpest eyes. He had forgotten about a Lycanthropes heightened senses, however, and Remus picked up on it immediately.

Then, Severus spoke.

"This," and he gestured toward his chest, "Is a common occurrence." He closed his dark eyes.

Standing, the panther-like man began to stalk towards the exit. Before he could leave, however, a soft voice asked,

"How did you get those marks on your chest, Severus?"

Without turning, with no movement but the falling of his eyelids, the black-robed professor replied,

"That is none of your concern, Lupin."

But as he left the wing, he thought he might have heard,

"Quite the contrary, my Severus."


End file.
